Top 10 Online Payment Processing Platforms in Nigeria 2017

We are pleased to present our annual review of Top 10 Online Payment Processing Platforms in Nigeria 2017. We strive to access Nigerian online card processors that Nigerian merchants can integrate to their website and APPs and receive payments online card payment from potential internet audience of hundreds of millions globally.

One of the major change in the Nigerian Digital payment industry is that most payment processors and aggregators witness internet fraud and chargebacks from international payments so most of them deactivated international payments completely; some introduce Bank Verification Number (BVN) as a registration requirement, while others introduce stiffer control measures before the international payments can be activated or setup for the merchant. Others introduce indemnity form automated, fraud control system among others this caused a lot of issues for genuine merchants, especially those that wants USD displayed at payment page. So as to answer the usual question of how to accept international payment on my website from Nigeria? We wrote an e-book on accepting international payments to meet Nigerian and global needs.

During the period under review, some payment processors dropped from the list and some newly launched jumped up on the list. Processors like 2checkout stopped processing payments for Nigerian merchants others are replaced and new entrants even topped the list.

Many payment processors failed to grow because they failed to perform system study, evaluate their process and innovate. Others have poor customer service. There is need for constant update by existing processors, this should be based on customers’ feedback and periodic industry analysis. New and existing processors, should understand emerging trends in Nigeria payment industry. They can achieve this by seeking professional expertise of Digital Payment consultants who will give them ideas to enable them remain grow faster and remain at the top. Existing processors will also benefit from an independent assessment carried out on their system and recommendations from the experts.

There is need for deeper understanding of chargeback patterns, myths, risk and mitigating approaches for Nigerian and international payment processing – this will minimize the recent high inscidence of fraud been experienced.

Many Merchants we contacted also raise the concern about issues they have with One Time Password (OTP) and its negative impact of high shopping cart abandonment rate from customers that doesn’t have an hardware token, receive OTP SMS on their phone or not yet activated the service thereby cancelling the transaction. In fact this ecommerce website like homemade.com.ng we develop post How to pay – where process is explained and OTP request process demystified. In addition to automated custom cart abandonment software installation to minimize loss tendencies.

OTP stands for One-Time Password. It is generated by the Safetoken Service and so, OTP is also referred to as Safetoken. Safetoken/OTP and transaction limits are being put in place for your protection as part of the mandatory regulatory compliance by the CBN. To make online shopping even more secure, online payment processors generate this second level security for customer safety. This second level security is a 6-8 digit One Time Password (OTP). This help to protect your credit card payment on the internet, unfortunately awareness is low and it’s costing merchants and uninformed web developers a lot of loss.

We hereby present you the Top 10 Online Payment Processing Platforms in Nigeria 2017:

Interswitch Webpay is customised to show the brand detail at payment page, it gives online realtime access to transaction log and instantly notifies merchant like other processors and aggregators in Nigeria.

For interested customers, once you are setup on Interswitch webpay, you need to integrate it and carry out certification. Once this is passed, your Webpay account will be will be moved from Demo/Test Mode to live mode. So customers can pay with their Verve, MasterCard and Visa ATM cards issued by Nigerian Banks.

On the downside, the setup fee of N150,000 is high for SME. Webpay gateway only support Nigeria naira issued ATM cards only. In addition, just like other non Bank gateways, sometimes, banks do frustrate gateway settlement and reconciliation process that we have to intervene on behalf of clients t.

Fees and Charges

Setup Fee

N150,000 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira)

Transaction Charges

Local Cards (Naira Interswitch Verve, MasterCard and Visa): 1.5% of transaction amount (subject to a maximum of N2,000)

Interswitch Limited Corporate Information
Interswitch is an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company that facilitates the electronic circulation of money as well as the exchange of value between individuals and organisations on a timely and consistent basis.

The company started operations in 2002 as a transaction switching and electronic payments processing company Interswitchng new that builds and manages payment infrastructure as well as deliver innovative payment products and transactional services throughout the African continent.

Today, Interswitch is at the forefront of creating intuitive ways to pay and transact using digital technologies. We see the distinction between traditional channels and customer touch points like bank branches, ATMs, POS Terminals, Kiosks, PCs, etc., gradually fading and giving way to a set of digital cloud services that can be assessed anywhere and anytime using mobile devices and wearables and delivering payment experiences like never before.

Our solutions and services are secure. They provide convenience and real value for consumers. They also reduce costs, improve operational efficiency as well as drive sustainable revenue growth for institutions.

Website: www.interswitchgroup.com

PAYSTACK

Paystack is a fast growing Nigerian payment processing company that allows to accept local and international card on their website. The company started with Naira card processing, but recently activated International card processing. Afterwards credit the funds to their Company Naira Bank Account. Paystack prides themselves in reducing the integration time and high transaction processing rate.

Unfortunately, the company at a point deactivated all International card processing for customers without any news update via email or SMS Text message to intimate customers about it and its likely effect on their sales. This was very costly to some customers. For instance one of their interviewed merchant we develop website for and integrated Paystack into their website made aggressive publicity abroad and expect huge sales at a specific event, only for customers to try paying him and all their cards are declining. In which case he lost all sales he has been planning for overnight. He was very angry; and accordingly to him he has to engage Paystack in a heated discussion; then they inform him by their new policy he has to inform them before they will activate international card processing, afterwards they activated him, but the havoc has been done already.

Another complains is that customer argue that many of the international cards gets rejected. A case in view is that of a merchant customer try paying him in United States of America (USA), the card was declined, but another card issued in Canada was approved successfully seamlessly. We presume this might be attributed to their fraud prevention system which is filtering many transactions that ought to go through normally, because this affect both local and international payments.

Paystack has one of the sleekest payment gateway interface. The frontend support pop-up (where customers card page pops-up) and inline (where payment box is embedded on the payment page – a feature long awaited in Nigeria payment processing industry/aggregator was introduced by them almost free).

The gateway supports Verve Card, MasterCard and Visa Card. It also support multiple internet banking transfer options – where customers can login and pay with direct bank transfer using OTP/ Token to authorise the payment. Customer currency is changed to Naira at Checkout page (for international orders) and credited to your Naira Bank account which is a general downside many Nigerians are trying to avoid. Unfortunately it’s attributable to the Central Bank of Nigeria Circular on dollarization of Nigerian Economy.

Fees and Charges

Setup Fee

Free Setup (No Setup fee is paid by the Merchant)

Transaction Charges

Local Cards (Naira Interswitch Verve, MasterCard and Visa): 1.5% + 100 with a cap of N2000 (which means you won’t pay more than that for such transactions). (Micro Transactions – N100 fee is waived for transactions less than N2500)

GTBank GTPay promised unique features such as International Acceptance: GTPAY accepts both locally and internationally issued cards including Interswitch, MasterCard and VISA. Timely transaction processing: Merchants get value next day after transaction takes place. GTPAY monitoring log: GTPAY comes with a unique, online monitoring console that allows merchants view transactions as they occur. Reduced sign-on fee: GTBank is a certified developer partner so we take on GTPAY integration for our merchants and as such the integration fee is waived for them.

GTPay recently has a couple of issues with which ranges from customer support, slow response rate, settlement delay issues, deactivation of international payment for customers without notifying them, new customer integration and certification issues (change of Test URL, Introduction of additional form requirements among others).

GTPay is a secure internet payment gateway developed to facilitate payments online using debit Cards issued by banks on the Interswitch Network. GTPay plugs in seamlessly with the existing websites of customers and acts as a bridge between the customer’s website and financial institutions (Banks). The payment solution,

Provides a convenient alternative payment channel to all customers

Enables cardholders to pay merchants (our customers) for internet purchases of goods and services from the comfort of their offices/homes by supplying details of their local debit/credit cards

Tracking your transactions record is easy as the GTPAY is deployed with an online monitoring console which allows you view transactions as they occur real-time, as well as generate reports on all transactions done on the website.

Features

International Acceptance: GTPAY accepts both locally and internationally issued cards including Interswitch, MasterCard and VISA.

Timely transaction processing: Merchants get value next day after transaction takes place.

Voguepay is a Nigerian payment processor that accept local and international card processing. The gateway supports sending and processing international payments. Customers can set auto-withdraw to account on their platform, unlike some other payment aggregators.

The company that is in its 5th year of operation have free plugin, purchase links, buy now buttons donation button, integration API among other features.

On 15 January 2017, Voguepay announced review of new transaction and withdrawal fees with effect from 17 January 2017.

About Voguepay

VoguePay was created with a big vision: to make online, cross-currency payments and transactions safer, cheaper and more accessible for businesses, traders and consumers in Africa and internationally. Tens of thousands of clients later, Voguepay’s comprehensive (and/or integrated) solutions and services are helping businesses to grow – and individuals to prosper – by removing the barriers and the complications to local and international trade. We are the payment bridge between Africa and the rest of the world.

Simplepay payment gateway support processing Nigerian and International cards (Verve, MasterCard and Visa). Activating International cards is subject to running the account for 2 months and processing at least 20 successfully local transactions. All payments are displayed to customers in Naira and settlement is to the customer Naira or Domiciliary Bank account in Nigeria.

Customer can’t auto-withdraw to their bank account; they have to “Request Transfer” to access their fund.

The registration process has a downside that lets many customers evade; which is they request for Bank Verification Number (BVN) at registration or first withdrawal. This is a big limitation as they are not a Bank and customers are warned to be wary of sharing BVN with any third party aside a Bank because of attendant risk.

The account is usually in Demo/Test Mode before been tested and once satisfactory will be moved to live mode. The company has pre-developed plugins for popular shopping carts and API code for custom integration.

The company migrated to new simplepay.ng , got PCI DSS certification and according to their CEO is a drive towards repositioning the company for Global market optimally.

About Simplepay

Simplepay help Nigerians receive payments online the simple way. Since 2013, SimplePay allows any business or consumer with an e-mail address and a bank account to securely, conveniently and cost-effectively receive Verve, MasterCard and Visa card payments online. Our network provides a global, real-time merchant transaction processing solution. SimplePay for merchants is ideally suited for small businesses, online merchants, individuals, and others currently under served by traditional payment systems.

UBA UCollect is the web card payment processing gateway of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA). The gateway is free for customers that has a corporate account. The gateway support multiple card variants such as Mastercard and Visa. When we tried Verve card during review, it shows the message “merchant can’t receive pay with this card scheme. Hence Verve card didn’t work” at the time of testing.

UBA UCollect is available in 19 African countries including Nigeria and promised to support multiple currencies such as Naira, GBP, Dollar and Euro. Unfortunately the Bank deactivated international payment for most customers in the past and customers complain they don’t activate international card acceptance for them.

UBA customer service response rate is not impressive, integration issues linger among others. The gateway require SSL on the merchant website with a specific rating standard before been authorised as satisfactory before account setup can be authorised and approved, since customers don’t enter card and very sensitive detail on the UBA Merchant website and current IT environment, this is an extra re-occurring expense to SMEs with very slim budgets, but wants to get online to sell.

Doing online business or e-commerce in the African market is plagued with so many risks to both merchants and consumers due to the sudden large amount of scams, identity theft, and fraudsters. U-Collect is a solution which allows merchants to accept card payments from customers who desire to do online purchases using their various cards. It is a gateway that connects merchants, cardholders, and financial institutions, offering the assurance of secure transactions and timely payments.

Features

Simplified integration processes

Possible integration with corporate core business application if required.

Zenith Globalpay is the official online card processing platform of Zenith Bank Plc that enables merchants to receive Verve, MasterCard and Visa card payments on their website then settle the funds to their Zenith Bank account. Like other payment processors and aggregators on the list, Globalpay provides online real time transaction log for monitoring transactions as they occur, accept Verve, MasterCard and Visa cards and offer real-time online processing of transactions that is instant debit of cardholders account immediately payment is made.

PCI Compliance is another feature with Zenith Globalpay other Nigerian Bank Gateways, Simplepay among others. PCI Compliance gives the highest level of data protection in the industry till date.

When setup on Zenith Globalpay, account the API will be given to the merchant who will forward to their website developer or independent digital payment integrator to connect their website to the bank payment gateway. Afterwards, certification will be conducted to ensure compliance with required standard before the merchant account will be moved from the Demo Test Phase to Live mode where merchant can accept payments online real-time.

Just like other payment gateways in Nigeria, approval for International card payment processing is usually stricter recently with justification required as to why the merchant want to activate it. This is intended to minimize risk of chargeback tendencies.

During a custom integration of Zenith Globalpay on a Non-Governmental Organisation donation website recently, the response time to issues was long, test url was changed during the process which cause another issue and integration that ought to take days got extended for no reason.

About Zenith Globalpay

GlobalPAY is a web-based solution that enables corporate bodies with or without functional websites accept card payments from customers worldwide. It is suitable for Corporate organization, business segment that offers goods or services. It accepts MasterCard (local & International), Visa (local & international), Interswitch Verve cards.

GlobalPAY ensure that your business can accept payments conveniently on your website from customers all over the world. Both the integrated payment gateway and the Storefront accept MasterCard, Visa and Verve cards. With GlobalPAY, your website will also have the functionality of accepting and monitoring mobile payments made via mobile phone. An online log is available to view all transactions as they occur on your website.

Where there is no systemic failure, all local transactions are settled of into merchant’s account one working day after transaction date and two working days after transaction date for foreign transactions. However, whenever there is a systemic failure, merchants are promptly advised of their settlement delay through their account/relationship officers.

MIGS (MasterCard Internet Gateway Service) is the premium version of the CIPG. MIGS enables Merchants to process local and international cards using the MasterCard platform. As a premium service, It offers segregation of local and international transactions which makes processing easier, support selective profiling per risk level for merchants.

We cater for individuals and businesses through carefully designed retail and business banking products. We also offer self-service channels powered by sophisticated technology to bring convenient banking to customers.

Our clients can also get custodial services through Stanbic Nominees Nigeria Limited, our custody arm and non-pension asset custodian, acting in a nominee capacity for clients’ transactions in securities and other investments.

We are a key player in financial inclusion and are poised to take banking to the doorsteps of our customers; taking care of the banking needs of different categories of persons and businesses.

Stanbic IBTC Bank is a Member of The Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest banking group by assets and market capitalization, has been in operation for 153 years and has direct, on-the-ground representation in 20 African countries. Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc is a full service financial services group with a clear focus on three main business pillars – Corporate and Investment Banking, Personal and Business Banking and Wealth Management.

Remita is payment aggregator that enable merchants to accept card (Verve, MasterCard and Visa) payments on their website and APP. The gateway support local and international card processing. Setup is free and can go live within 48 hours.

Remita is adopted as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s default payment gateway for the execution of the Federal Government’s much celebrated Treasury Single Account (TSA) initiative – the largest and most impactful of its kind in Africa, Remita has helped the Nigerian government to entrench ease, transparency and accountability in its finance management.

About Remita

Remita is a comprehensive payment solution for anyone and everyone in Africa.

Whether you intend to use Remita for personal or business purposes, this multi-device platform lets you view all your bank balances – from different banks – on a single screen, easily transfer money to one or more beneficiaries, pay bills, view detailed transaction reports on-the-go, and much more.

Fast emerging as Africa’s preferred payment platform, Remita is chosen by millions of people and thousands of organisations. It is the default payment gateway that facilitates the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Treasury Single Account (TSA), the largest and most impactful of its kind in Africa.

With Remita, payment transactions are seamless as customers can pay individuals and businesses through a wide range of channels, such as the business’ website, internet banking, mobile wallet, www.remita.net, POS terminals, credit/debit cards, accredited agents, commercial and microfinance bank branches in Nigeria.

Developed fully in Nigeria by SystemSpecs, Remita powers businesses across Nigeria and is integrated with local and international payment gateways. Remita is trusted by major multinationals and conglomerates and allows access to exceptional Real-Time Transaction Tracking and Reporting across multiple platforms, as well as making it easy for customers to set up Direct Debit or Standing Order mandates on their accounts in any bank in Nigeria.

Fees and Charges

Setup Fee

Free Setup (No Setup fee is paid by the Merchant)

Transaction Charges

Local Cards (Naira Interswitch Verve, Mastercard and Visa): 1.5% of transaction value. Minimum of N100 and subject to a maximum of N2,500)

WEMA WEBPAY

ediaro Review

Wema Webpay is an online payment processing powered by Wema Bank Plc. The gateway enables merchants to accept payments for goods and services on their website using Verve, Mastercard and Visa. It support Local and International card payment processing.

Wema Webpay is an aggregated gateway that gives direct access to merchants to accept payments from all over the world and get the fund to their Naira Corporate Bank account. The gateway gives SMEs and large conglomerate opportunity to design a website and get their customers to self-service themselves and make payment remotely and get funds into their bank account in an auto pilot way. The Bank has partnered with web developers to handle web development on their behalf.

Wema Webpay gives an online monitoring console to monitor all transactions real-time from any location – on PC, Table or mobile phone.

About Wema Webpay

We are glad to introduce to you our aggregated online payment solution that accepts both local and international cards for payment of goods and services called Wema WebPay.

It is a payment engine integrated into merchants’ website to receive payments from cardholders (MasterCard, Visa, Verve e.t.c) paying with their cards online for goods and services after which the merchant receives value in his account when payment is made.

It is an online processing platform that enables businesses with or without functional websites accepts card payments from customers globally.

It ensures that your business can accept payments conveniently on its website from customers all over the world. With Wema WebPay, your website will also have the functionality of monitoring and viewing consolidated reports of transactions irrespective of channels.

How does this work for a merchant?

Merchant signs payment integration forms for Wema WebPay
APIs will be exchanged between Wema Bank and customer’s web developer as part of the integration process
Following completion of integration and successful testing of the payment engine on the website, payments by customer can commence.
Merchant is provided with a reporting console to view transactions as they occur online real-time.
Merchant’s account is credited for payments made on her website

Once payment is successful, an online receipt is displayed on-screen and can be printed by the Customer.

Wema Bank Corporate Information

Established in 1945, we are Nigeria’s longest surviving indigenous bank.

Wema Bank offers a range of retail and SME banking, corporate banking, treasury, trade services and financial advisory to its ever-expanding clients. In 2009, the Bank underwent a strategic repositioning exercise which culminated in a decision to operate as a commercial Bank with regional authorisation in South-South Nigeria, South-West Nigeria, Lagos and Abuja in 2011. However, in 2015, the bank was granted a national banking licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Wema Bank offers a range of retail and SME banking, corporate banking, treasury, trade services and financial advisory services to its numerous customers. The Bank operates a network of over 140 branches and service stations across Nigeria, backed by a robust ICT platform.

Fees and Charges

Setup Fee

Free Setup (No Setup fee is paid by the Merchant)

Transaction Charges

Local Cards (Naira Interswitch Verve, MasterCard and Visa): 1.5% of transaction amount (subject to a maximum of N2,000)

Website: www.wemabank.com

About ediaro. com

For over 5 years ediaro.com (a member of Fladio International Nigeria Limited) has provided web solutions and advertising for public and private sectors. Our main division is Computer and Information Technology. Thanks to our flexible approach towards the development of new solutions, we have often been at the inception of digital revolution and incorporating the most recent technologies. When you partner with ediaro.com, you are associating with one of Africa's best company for your ICT needs, we are the 1st Nigerian Company listed on the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) ECOBIZ computer session in 2010. Focusing on quality, reliability and design of our products and services has brought us customers and partnership with local and Multinational Companies such as United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Interswitch Limited, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc among others. Our current customer portfolio covers individuals, companies and Government agencies across the globe including Nigeria, India, United Kingdom, Mozambique and United States of America.

Good day,
Please I need your help with integrating an epayment platform with a site I’m planning on creating.
It’s a freelance marketplace like fiverr and craiglist. Am planning on using wordpress and the Pricerr plugin. I want all freelance merchants on my site to be automatically paid every month end, so far they reach the mininum cashout amount eg #10,000
1. Please what epayment platform can support this module(automatic/scheduled multiple merchants payment)
2. How much will integration cost

The work of the payment module is to receive card payment and credit funds to your bank account, most nigerian payment gateways will do it for your Naira: Mastercard, Verve and Visa.

Meanwhile, the cashout/payout and others we presume will be handled by your wordpress plugin? If not, you can either get a plugin to handle that or we will develop a custom plugin that will work for you system at am extra fee.

Pls one last question. I need an epayment platform that can be used without business name registration certificate or CAC certificate of incorporation, as this is a startup and I would love to grow b4 going into the complexities of business registration. Are there any epaymnt platforms you can recommend

The payment processors policies changes randomly, we advise you contact the payment processors directly via email or phone call and ask them directly. You can get their contact details on their website.

Contact

Telephone: (+234) 080-9502-9999

For over 8 years ediaro.com (a member of Fladio International Nigeria Limited) has provided web solutions, digital payment setup and integration and advertising for public and private sectors. Our main division is Computer and Information Technology. Thanks to our flexible approach towards the development of new solutions, we have often been at the inception of digital revolution and incorporating the most recent technologies. When you partner with ediaro.com, you are associating with one of Africa's best company for your ICT needs, we are the 1st Nigerian Company listed on the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) ECOBIZ computer session in 2010. Focusing on quality, reliability and design of our products and services has brought us customers and partnership with local and Multinational Companies such as United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Interswitch Limited, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc among others. Our current customer portfolio covers individual, companies and Government agencies across the globe including Nigeria, India, United Kingdom, Mozambique and United States of America. read More>>